Pick-Up Trucks

The attached represents correspondence between my son and I. He is a seasoned GM mechanic, but I am a bit of a Ford fan largely because the dealership is small and great. His new truck recommendation is the Toyota Tundra; however,I am thinking of buying a new Ford F150.

I would appreciate it if you Pick-Up folks would give it a read and provide your opinions.

Following is his reply to our conversations regarding which truck to buy.

Ben has a newer f150 he bought new, he loves it but he is going on his 3rd
rear differential. It has 37,000 miles. He pulls a 17ft boat. Its weighs
less than your crestliner. Now he’s is wondering what to do after his
warranty is up. The last rear diff was replaced less than a year ago so it
will still be covered but then he’s screwed and rear ends are EXPENSIVE!
(1000-2000 rebuilt)The ford dealer actually told him this is common/flawed
design. I thought this was interesting because prior he had a full size
dodge and it was a piece of [censored]. He was going to buy a chevy but it was
about 3 grand more than the ford. The funny thing is Joes Toyota has
200,000 thousand plus and it has the original rear diff. So does your
Ranger and My Tahoe. Before I would buy ANYTHING I would research it like
crazy. I know 2000-2002 chevys are better than new ones, I’m sure certain
year fords and toys are better than others. New isn’t always better.
Especially once the warranty is gone and the damn things got 20
module/computers on it and you can’t put a window switch in without a
techline/dealer computer and scanner. Hear is my advice. Buy a used truck
you like and that your research. YOU know you’ll get good service work from
either a ford or chevy. Buy the truck from a dealer and get an exteneded
aftermarket warranty. Universal and Universal underwriters are both good
warranty companies. Ask Lochen what warranty companies they recommend.
Also ask what years were good in f150s. I know the service manager at
schmidt ford in theinsville well. When your ready I can have him keep an
eye out on vehicle and I can ask him “what to look for”. Bottom line is all
vehicles minus 93-97 corrollas have issues. But how many and how much will
it cost to repair. 3 people at dockdogs have 2000-2002 chevys and all had
the same issue. The one guy owned the truck since new(2000) and it has
never had a repair. And after talking with me he probably either fixed his
steering knock himself or paid the $100 to get it done. Certain vehicles
have the same problems and they can be repeatative. But how bad is a
steering knock and how bad ($$$)is a noisey rear end. Information like this
doesn’t come form jd power or car and driver. It comes from people who
work-on and own these products. I would buy used simply because of cost.
Why beat up a new $30k truck? Also with a used one with say 20-30k miles
you can get dealer and or owner history to find out if the vehicle has had
consistant problems. Would you buy Bens truck used even with a fixed rear
end? NO WAY. But I bet it was real nice new. Its nice not to be the test
bunny sometimes, and with the issues gm and ford are having everything is
rushed into production. Just my thoughts

>From: [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Large Trucks
>Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2006 08:36:49 EDT
>
>Note that Edmunds ranks both Ford and Chevy above the Toyota Tundra.
>
> _Ford F-Series_
>(http://aolsvc.edmunds.com/new/2006/ford/f150/truck/large/index.html)
>After getting edged out by the Nissan Titan last year, the Ford F-150 came
>back strong with a solid 19 percent of the votes to earn 1st place. This
>shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, as the F-150 maintained its No.
>1
>position on the sales charts in 2005. Not surprisingly, the Chevrolet
>Silverado/GMC
>Sierra twins weren’t far behind at 16 percent. It was a three-way tie for
>3rd with the Cadillac Escalade EXT, Honda Ridgeline and Toyota Tundra all
>receiving 13 percent of the votes. Following close behind was last year’s
>winner,
>the Nissan Titan, with 12 percent. Filling out the last three spots were
>the
>Dodge Ram (7 percent), Chevrolet Avalanche (5 percent) and Lincoln Mark LT
>(2
> percent).

I don’t know what happened to your friends truck but they (Fomoco) changed the part number on the rear axle ring and pinion in 2005. The new kit comes with all the bearings and a redesigned ring and pinion. If he had it replaced after about January 2005 he should not have any more problems with it. The Ford F150 have always been a sound truck and never give a great deal of problems. They (all manufacturers) have some problems even Toyota. I know because we have had Toyotas in our shop from time to time as well as Dodge and GM. The main difference is the price of the parts, your friends rear end repair was probably about $650.00 to $850.00 to repair the Ford rr end. The Toyota would be about $1000.00 to $1,400.00 to repair. A friend has a Toyota SUV built on the Tundra chassis that the A/C compressor went and contaminated they system at 45,000 miles. The repair for that was $3,500.00 (vs $1,200 for the same repair on a Ford), Toyota warranty did help out but it still cost him $750.00 out of pocket for the deductable. Toyota has maintainance that is expensive and you have to spend about $500.00 every 30,000 miles. To make a long story short any thing mechanical will break down sooner or later. Toyota’s, Chevy’s Ford’s or Dodge’s it comes down to the support you can get from your dealership. If the dealership stands behind the product you won’t be disapointed with any vechicle you buy.

Thanks for informed response; appreciate it.

My 2001 has about 110K miles, none of them easy, I have the 5.4, 3.73 rear end. I drive like a maniac, and I drive it hard, to date it’s had a power steering pump replace, that probably really didn’t need to and a coil pack at around 100K.

Would I buy another Ford, probably not, why Gas mileage. I don’t care what people claim I’ll tell you straight out, on a good day the truck is lucky to get mid 14’s for MPG, and even chevy seems to get atleast 17mpg day in day out from people I trust, and would not lie to me. I love my truck to date it’s never let me down, I’ll probably keep it until it doesn’t drive anymore, but unless Ford does something about the gas mileage, I’m not buying another new one. (yeah I under stand my 350 FT/LBS of torque comes at a cost)

Toyota tundra would I buy one? yes, yes I would, but then again if didn’t make my “heart” happy, I’d be in a pickle…

So your son is giving you his best advice and you are questioning it? I don’t understand why you aren’t showing off a picture of your slightly used corolla.

mb757 has hit the nail on the head. there was a reoccurring problem with the rear end on some trucks but with the updated “guts” there should be no more problems.

The slightly used corolla is a rust bucket, but it does run good.

I have a question for you guys.
I just bought a used ’03 Chev Z71 with 52k and a 5.3 327 in it.
My question is. When I first start it up in my garage (cold),the exhaust off the manifold sound weird, almost like a leak
so I crawled under there, no leaks anywhere. Once it warms up it goes away.
It’s a strange sound. Is this the result of a steel manifold bolted to an aluminum head?
Am I crazy or what?

The 5.3 cold tap. Good luck finding one that doesnt do it after a few miles. Some say piston slap. I dont know. My 01 truck was worse than my 03 but I used to tack that thing out all the time. I take it easy on the 03 and its hardly noticable.

How many miles on your ’03.

56k

I don’t understand your E Mail. Anything positive on your end???